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MAX5861
DOCSIS 3.1 High-Density SCQAM and
OFDM Downstream Cable Modulator
General Description
Benefits and Features
The MAX5861 is an integrated, high-density, SCQAM and
OFDM downstream cable modulator, digital up-converter
(DUC) and RF digital-to-analog converter (RF-DAC). The
MAX5861 is DOCSIS 3.1-compliant and is optimized for
converged cable access platform (CCAP) hardware. The
MAX5861 performs baseband I/Q symbols to RF up-
conversion to digitally synthesize a selectable combina-
tion of SCQAM and OFDM blocks on a single RF port.
A combination of up to six 192MHz blocks of SCQAM
or OFDM channels can be powered on at any one time,
where a block is defined as either 32 X 6MHz (or 24 X
8MHz) SCQAM channels or an OFDM channel (up to
192MHz wide). The MAX5861 features three differential
time-multiplexed input data ports that support LVDS or
SSTL 1.2/1.5 in DDR mode.
● High-Density Cable Downstream Modulator
• Combine Up to Six 192MHz Blocks of 32 x 6MHz
SCQAM Channels and DOCSIS 3.1 OFDM Channels
• Integrated 14-Bit 4.9152Gsps RF-DAC
● Highly Flexible and Configurable
• ITU-T J.83 Annex A, B, and C SCQAM Channels
• IFFT Processing D3.1 OFDM Channels
• LVDS or SSTL 1.2/1.5 DDR Data Ports
• One 10-Bit SCQAM Port with 160-Channel Capacity
• Two 9-Bit OFDM Ports with 6 OFDM-Channel
Capacity
• Channel Bandwidths:
• 1MHz to 8MHz SCQAM
• 24MHz/48MHz/96MHz/192MHz OFDM
• 192MHz IFFT Bypass Mode
• Full SCQAM Agility within 192MHz Block
• Block Agility within 1218MHz Output Bandwidth
The MAX5861 SCQAM input port A accepts 10-bit
Forward Error Correction (FEC)-encoded data for up to
160 (6MHz) individually programmable channels. The
SCQAM path performs QAM mapping, root raised cosine
(RRC) pulse shaping, and resampling, compliant with
ITU-T J.83 Annex A, B, and C. This port also supports
1024-QAM with the use of an offset bias bit. Up to four
channels can be operated in RRC filter bypass mode
at up to 2.5Msym/s for legacy communications to older
generation devices.
● Additional Features Ease RF Design
• Programmable Digital Predistortion
• High Output Power: 9dBm (Peak CW)
● Low-Power, Compact Solution
• 5.9W with 128 SCQAMs + 2 OFDM Channels
• Operating Temperature Range T = -40°C to
A
T = +110°C
J
• 12mm x 18mm, 308-Ball LFBGA
Each of two available 9-bit OFDM ports, B or C, support
up to three 12-bit OFDM IFFT-processing channels. Each
IFFT-processing channel supports OFDM blocks of up to
192MHz bandwidth with selectable 4k or 8k subcarriers
and up to 4096-QAM modulation options. Each of the two
OFDM ports also allow bypassing of the IFFT processing
with a single 18-bit I/Q data path to support user-defined
modulation at up to 192MHz bandwidth.
Applications
● DOCSIS 3.0/3.1 and DVB-C/C2
● CCAP, Edge QAM, CMTS
● Remote PHY, Coax Media Converters
● Multi-Dweller Units (MDU), Mini-Headends
A cascade of interpolation filters, complex modula-
tors, channel combiners and Direct Digital Frequency
Synthesizers (DDFS) up-convert the SCQAM and/or
OFDM signals with full frequency agility from 43MHz to
1218MHz. The up-converted spectrum is fed to a Digital
Pre-Distortion (DPD) block to compensate for distortion
performance limitations in the DAC and external output
amplifiers.
Simplified Block Diagram
160-CHANNEL
QAM MODULATOR
5 x 192MHz
A
SCQAM
PORT
RF DAC
14-BIT, 5Gsps
1.2GHz BW
+9dBm POUT
RF
OUT
B,C
OFDM MODULATOR
6 x 192MHz
OFDM
PORTS
Ordering Information appears at end of data sheet.
19-7576; Rev 2; 8/18